


Getting to Know You (Reluctantly)

by Tumble Down (tumbledown)



Series: Mohawks & Denim [4]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Age Of The Geek Baby, M/M, Not For Fans of Justin Bieber, Sheamus Looks Like Grumpy Cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-09 22:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5557685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tumbledown/pseuds/Tumble%20Down
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over the course of a month Sheamus and Dolph learn about each other and maybe some things about themselves.</p><p>Or rather Dolph is the son of hippies, Sheamus is going to kill someone, the other people in the hotel really just want to sleep, and the denial is thicker than molasses in January.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting to Know You (Reluctantly)

**Author's Note:**

> So sorry for the long wait! No sexy fun times in this part, but don't worry, there will be more of that soon.
> 
> I'm not entirely happy with this, but it's taken me nearly two months to get this far and it's probably as good as it's going to get. =/
> 
> Italics are for texts and occasionally for emphasis in sentences. Bold is Sheamus speaking Gaelic.
> 
> Not beta read, so please point out any mistakes you see. I'd appreciate it. Comments and critique are welcomed, either here or at peacelovevinyl.tumblr.com, and there will be more notes at the end.
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> ETA: Fixed the formatting. I don't know why half of it didn't work, but it should be fine now.

The genuine smile Dolph gave him after he admitted that he didn’t hate him washed away any anger that may have lingered after the geek comment. The look he was given suggested that Dolph wasn’t lying when he said he found intelligence sexy, and if the kiss was anything to go by, he found it very sexy indeed.

He felt his guard lower a small amount, and if a feeling of _something_ flickered through him, well, he wasn’t going to admit that.

***

Sheamus was a nosy bastard, Dolph discovered. He liked to poke through people’s things, not too deep or invasive, just satisfying a curiosity that seemed almost constant. He was sneaky about it, too; Dolph often would only just catch a movement out of the corner of his eye or notice things in his gear bag had been shifted around some, which is why when he stepped out of the bathroom after cleaning up and saw Sheamus blatantly holding Dolph’s wallet that he was a little surprised.

He figured it out when Sheamus looked up from his driver’s license with a raised eyebrow and said, “Really?”

He sighed and sat down on the bed next to the redhead and went through the familiar explanation.

“My parents are basically hippies and my mom was convinced I was going to be a girl, so she picked the name out. When I was born a boy, they decided they were going to keep the name and just make my middle name my dad’s name instead of my mom’s.”

“Seriously?” Sheamus asked, shaking his head. “School must have been hell.”

“Honestly by high school I was left alone. I guess any bullies figured that, hey, someone whose name is Dolphin and is a male cheerleader as well as an amateur wrestler and still gets more dates than they could dream of wasn’t someone to mess with.”

“Male cheerleader,” Sheamus repeated, looking at him in disbelief. “I thought being in choir was bad.”

Dolph punched his shoulder-- childish, but satisfactory-- and took his wallet and license back.

“Guess we’re both geeks of some kind,” he said, placing his wallet back on the nightstand. “And yet look at us, regularly kicking ass all over the world. Guess it really is the age of the geek.”

“So you’re saying you’re not embarrassed at all, Dolphin?”

“Not at all, choir boy, not at all,” he replied, grinning, and gave him a quick kiss. “You gonna serenade me sometime?”

“Not a chance in hell,” Sheamus said, kissing away any response.

***

Wade Barrett was a dead man.

Sheamus had known that he’d get him back for the app, but this… this was cruel. This was going way beyond any unofficial boundaries they had set.

Barrett had invited Bo-fucking-Dallas to travel with them, and then of course at the last second had found another ride elsewhere, leaving Sheamus stuck in a car with the obnoxious little prick for hours. He hadn’t been able to find his headphones anywhere-- Barrett probably stole them, the bastard-- and so he had been in the passenger seat doing his best to tune out the man’s babbling. He had already demanded him to shut up, but that had lasted all of five minutes before the idiot had begun rambling on about Justin Bieber needing to hire him as a life coach.

“He just needs to Bo-lieve in himself, don’t you think?”

Sheamus ignored him and began tapping out text message in a desperate attempt to save his sanity. He didn’t even really think about that he was sending it to Dolph.

_I’m going to murder someone._

_is this a confession_  
_y_

He opened the video app and covertly recorded a few seconds of the idiot next him, who was still talking about Bieber for some ungodly reason. He sent that as his entire response.

_no1 would blame u  
how did this happen_

_Barrett._

_phone revenge huh_  
_what r u gonna do 2 him now_  
_can i help_  
_b/c that’s just cruel & unusual_  
_im good now i cant let that stand_

Sheamus rolled his eyes at the last bit, biting back a small smile, but the offer was tempting. There was a chance that Ziggler would come up with something decent or at least something Barrett wouldn’t expect.

_If you come up with something good._

_take a magnet 2 his ccs_  
_my bro did that 2 me years ago_  
_had 2 replace em all_  
_major pain in the ass_

That actually held promise. He’d have to wait until the upcoming overseas tour was over, since the one rule he knew that neither of them would cross was that there were to be no shenanigans on those tours. Tempers tended to be already frayed from the extra traveling hassles and ending up in a fistfight in a German hotel and the resulting trouble that would follow was not something anyone wanted to experience. Still, the idea was worth considering.

_I’ll keep that in mind._

_good  
what do i get 4 it_

_What do you want?_

_r we talking sexual favors_

_You’re already getting those so no._

_hmm let me think_  
_think u can get breeze’s phone_  
_use ur app on it_

_Isn’t it glued to his hand?_

_lol yeah  
but i have faith in u_

At that he smiled, though the faint uptick in his mood was ruined when Dallas screeched something and turned the radio up to blasting levels. He immediately turned it off and glared at the man.

“Hey, I love that--”

Murderous intent spread across his face.

“Never mind,” Dallas squeaked out, and Sheamus returned to his phone.

_What songs do you want?  
And I swear if you say Bieber you’re next on my kill list. _

_nah breeze likes him_  
_srsly i heard his phone go off_  
_hes got that baby song as his ringtone i swear_

_That’s just wrong._

_inorite_  
_i would say motley crue or sumthin_  
_but i cant desecrate em_  
_u pick something_

_I can do that._

_thx_  
_hey speaking of music_  
_is thin lizzy the best irish rock band_  
_what do u think_

He let himself be drawn into a music debate. It definitely registered that this was a weird thing to be doing, but if it kept him from kicking Dallas out of the moving vehicle to go play in traffic he’d take it.

***

Dolph generally liked overseas tours, even with the extra stress, but this time he wasn’t really into it. Oh, he put on a hell of a performance each night for the fans, but backstage and in his hotel room he found himself feeling down. He hoped he wasn’t getting the flu that was making its way through the roster. He had gotten his flu shot, but in previous years that hadn’t stopped him from getting sick on tours. Wrestling sick was awful, worse than wrestling injured in his opinion. If he was getting sick at least he could go cough on Breeze and spread the misery, but he didn’t really think he was.

The shows have been great, he has been kicking Breeze’s ass, and even the airports haven’t been too much of a headache, but he still found himself feeling bummed out.

Two days later he figured it out when he realized it had been just over a week since he had spoken with Sheamus, a few text conversations notwithstanding. They had just been too busy and too tired from traveling country to country to have time to hook up.

It was the sex he missed, he decided.

***

He wouldn’t prank Barrett on a tour, but he had no such compunctions about most others; besides, the perfect opportunity had presented itself-- no way was he not going to take it.

Breeze was sprawled on the floor of the locker room, groaning dramatically like he was dying. The flu that had taken ahold of half the roster had reached Prince Pretty-Fucking-Annoying, which meant he was in no shape to do anything with his phone. Sheamus wasn’t dumb enough to actually touch it and risk the germs, but like most phones it was unsecured enough for him to use his own to hijack it from the other side of the locker room.

It had taken him a few days’ thought on what songs to use. Most of the artists that came to mind he dismissed, either because it was probably someone Breeze actually liked or didn’t know who it was, which lowered the annoyance factor. He figured the man probably hated rap, so he needed a horrible rap artist. Vanilla Ice came to mind since the man had collaborated with Jedward, but no, he thought, he could go worse than that. Inspiration had struck while flipping through a random pop culture magazine out of boredom and he saw a picture of Britney Spears. Hadn’t her ex-husband been a rapper or something?

Wikipedia confirmed it-- Kevin Federline had attempted a rap career and was considered worse than even Vanilla Ice. Perfect.

It ended up being the work of moments to install the app and the songs, but he decided to go a step further and delete all seven gigabytes of selfies. He had to listen to those damn songs to pick the worst, and that deserved further infliction of suffering.

He grinned in satisfaction as he finished and looked up to see Barrett eyeing him suspiciously.

“Not you,” he said. “Not yet.”

That was apparently wasn’t as reassuring as he had thought judging by Barrett’s expression, but he ignored it in favor of texting Dolph-- _Ziggler_ \-- to give him the good news.

***

They finally managed to get a few hours together in Rome. Dolph, high off the win over Breeze and the knowledge that the man had been throwing hissy fits over his phone constantly blasting KFed and the loss of his selfies, had spent those hours thoroughly showing Sheamus his appreciation. He liked to think it help to calm the anger the man had over his own loss that night.

“You’re evil,” he had said with a smile when Sheamus had explained what he had done.

“You like it,” Sheamus had retorted.

I think I do, he had thought.

***

Being back stateside had put Barrett on high alert and he wasn’t leaving wallet where Sheamus could get to it, short of breaking into his hotel room. Frustrating, but not unexpected. He could wait.

In the meantime he was keeping an eye on the championship bracket and planning, and also taking a bit of pride that noise complaints had been called on him and Dolph-- Ziggler, damn it-- three times already in three different hotels. Seeing the wondering and, yes, jealous looks that Ziggler kept getting the in the locker room-- which he responded to only with a cocky grin-- made him feel even more proud and gave him one hell of a confidence boost.

A few times their eyes met in passing and Dolph’s grin would flash into a smile that felt like it was just for him before returning back to a grin.

He had a feeling that he was doing the same. He chose not to think about why.

***

No complaints had been made against them yet, but the night was still young and they were only taking a break. Dolph was sprawled on his stomach beside Sheamus, who was leaning back on a few pillows. At first these moments had been awkward, and sometimes they still were, but they had begun to get more comfortable with one another. Dolph had noticed, however, that it was mostly on his part to start conversations, and he was beginning to wonder why.

“How come you don’t ask me questions?” Sheamus gave him an odd look.

“I do.”

“Not really, not about me or about something. You don’t really start conversations,” he pointed out.

“You mean I don’t feel the desire to randomly choose a subject and then babble on about it until I exhaust the ears of those around me? The horror,” he said dryly.

“Oh, please,” Dolph said, rolling his eyes, “you like talking just fine. You ranted about TV cables for twenty minutes once.”

“Lies.”

“Oh yes you did. I hadn’t known someone could feel that strongly about them-- hey!”

Sheamus had yanked one of the pillows out from behind him and slammed it down on the back of Dolph’s head. He did it again and tried for a third time, but Dolph grabbed it.

“I take that as an agreement,” he said. Sheamus did his Grumpy Cat impression, which Dolph had quickly learned was a favorite one.

“You can spend hours talking about one band,” he pointed out, which okay, wasn’t a lie.

“Eh, touché. Still, at least I start those conversations.”

“ **In ainm Dé** \-- fine, what do you want me to me to talk about?” Sheamus grumbled, yanking the pillow back and returning it to its former place.

“If I tell you, that would be me starting the conversation, not you.”

“I like it best when you don’t talk.”

“Now who’s lying?” Dolph pushed himself up so he could face Sheamus better. “C’mon, ask me something. There’s got to be something you’ve wanted to ask.”

For a moment or two it seemed like he wouldn’t get a response, but he waited all the same, letting the man think about it. On a whim he leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

“Cat got your tongue?” he murmured against Sheamus’s mouth. Sheamus kissed him in reply, proving that no, his tongue was working just fine. “You still haven’t asked anything,” Dolph pointed out after they pulled apart.

“Why are you so annoying?”

“That doesn’t count.”

“Does to me.”

“Nope, not a real question, so it doesn’t count,” Dolph declared. “C’mon, ask me something.”

Sheamus rolled his eyes and looked off into space for a moment, then huffed and said, “Fine, here’s your damn question.”

“I eagerly await.”

“Who the hell is Dwelf Wizard?”

Dolph stared at him, not sure he heard correctly. Did he actually just say…?

“What?”

“I’m not saying it again,” he said, glaring.

He did, he actually said that. Dolph started to giggle; there was no other word to describe the bubbling of laughter that welled up inside him. He was giggling like a loon, because Sheamus had actually said Dwelf Wizard. He didn’t even care that it likely meant Sheamus had been nosing around in his phone’s contacts, because hearing those words in an Irish accent sounded like, for some reason, comedy gold.

Sheamus’s expression had gone from Grumpy Cat to Urge to Kill Rising, but Dolph couldn’t stop laughing. He didn’t even stop when Sheamus shoved him off the bed and onto the floor.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, and oh, hell, he was tearing up from laughing so much, “it’s just the way you said it.”

“ **Focáil leat** ,” Sheamus growled, standing up from the bed and beginning to gather his clothes.

“No, wait, stop,” Dolph said, standing up as well and trying to hold back the laughter. “I’m not laughing at you, I swear.”

“Sounds like it.”

“Honestly, I’m not. It’s just-- it’s an online nickname a fan made about Neville, okay?” Dolph walked over to him, pulling the clothes out of his hands. He put the hands on his own hips, then reached out to wrap his arms around Sheamus’s neck. “And it makes me laugh anyhow, but you said it in a way that somehow made it funnier, that’s all,” he explained, gently pulling him into a kiss. “I mean it. I’ll never laugh at you, only with you.”

He made that promise to himself right then and there, and he kept his promises. In some ways they were more alike than Dolph had originally realized; both of them had plenty of confidence and plenty of ego, but insecurity never discriminated.

“Okay?” he asked. Sheamus nodded and kissed him quickly on the mouth and then started down his neck. Dolph hummed in pleasure.

“Me, too,” he felt more than heard against his neck.

He smiled and pulled Sheamus back toward the bed. Time to see if they could go for a fourth noise complaint.

***

At some point Sheamus just gave up and started calling him Dolph, at least in his head. Maybe once or twice it slipped out, but Dolph didn’t seem to notice, so he left it go.

***

Dolph liked nicknames, and Sheamus wasn’t getting away from his fondness for them. At first the redhead resisted, but when Dolph pointed out that it was easier to scream out ‘Shea’ instead of ‘Sheamus’ and that it’d mean less likely they’d be discovered, he relented.

He had noticed that sometimes Sheamus called him Dolph, but he pretended he didn’t. He didn’t want him to stop.

He didn’t want any of it to stop.

**Author's Note:**

> Major credit to sixdegreesofsandow over at Tumblr for the great nickname for Neville. Part of that scene was one of the first ideas I thought of when I started writing this series and I'm glad I got to finally use it. In my headcanon Dolph is totally a part of the Tumblr fandom. He reblogs a lot of Cesaro Section stuff as well as Dwelf Wizard posts, and of course posts about himself. And maybe a Sheamus reblog has sneaked in here or there.
> 
> In my head this roughly takes place from the end of October to just before Survivor Series.
> 
> Translations:
> 
> • _In ainm Dé_ \- 'Oh for Heaven's sake' or possibly 'for fuck's sake'. Sites kept telling me both things, so who knows.  
>  • _Focáil leat_ \- fuck you


End file.
